SLAP FACE

Although a picture would certainly support my title, I am not willing to reveal my face at this point.  I must confess that I am completely out of shape and I have a very young baby, but I selfishly decided to take a break from real life and spend the day skiing with my family (minus Tom who is forbidden by the doctor and myself to ski at this point since his last expedition left him with a broken collar bone and me with two kids to take care of).  It was a beautiful day and the sun was out which led to an awesome uneven sunburn on my face.  My cheeks are bright red but since I was wearing goggles I got absolutely no color anywhere else.  When Tom came home from work, he told me I looked like I had slap face.  Now let me explain.  My seven year old cousin was just diagnosed with "slap face".  Yes, it is an actual disease.  The most common name for it is slapped cheek syndrome because the cheeks are bright red as if they have been slapped, but it is also called Fifth's Disease because it is the fifth main childhood illness (Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Chickenpox, and Fifths).  Not that I know exactly where I am going with this blog, but I was so interested in this illness because I have never heard of it in my life and after researching it on the internet, I've found that 60% or more of adults have had this at one time.  (This obviously demonstrates to everyone else that either I have far too much time on my hands or that I am now a paranoid freak of a mother since my child had RSV and am concerned about every illness a child can get).  

Growing Fast

Porter is still growing like a weed, which can be explained by the 16 plus hours he sleeps. (not that I'm complaining) He is in the 95 + % for height and weight. His head, however, is only in the 50th % which means he has so far managed to avoid the big Lebaron head gene. He wants to be big and prefers to stand up all the time. In order to get stuff done, I decided to try this walker. I've propped him up with a blanket, although he has basically mastered holding up his head. His feet touch the floor and he can make it move backwards. He seems to enjoy this and it gives me some free time.

We've Survived!

One week, 6 doctor visits, 8 oxygen monitors, 1 chest X-ray, 5 nose suctions, 10 breathing treatments,9 drop fed bottles, 5 anxiously awaited wet diapers to ensure there was no dehydration, and 6 all nighters at grandma's later, Porter is on his way to recovery. Thankfully we have avoided Primary Children's Hospital. You often hear about RSV, but you never realize how scary it is. Most children are hospitalized because they are too young and too small to handle it on their own. We will probably be taking a hiatus from people, and especially kids for the next little while so we don't pass it on and so we don't get it again.

Porter has now developed a love for stuffed animals, especially TOADS. He will sit for hours just stroking them and rubbing his face against them.

Even Miko wanted to make sure Porter was getting better.

The Worst Is Over (We Hope)

After a rough couple of days, and especially a rough couple of nights (you don't sleep much when you are told to monitor his heart rate and breathing), it looks like we are on the uphill climb. Although with RSV, they say it is very hard to tell. Porter and I have been staying at my mom's house and would send Tommy home so he could get sleep. I would sleep from 10-1 while my mom watched him and then she would sleep from 1-5 while I watched him. The doctor gave us a breathilizer treatment called albuterol which Porter has to inhale every four hours that has seemed to help. (although it is a steriod and makes him jittery, and since I inhale it too, I get jittery) He has had his nose suctioned a couple of times as well. There was a rough patch there that we thought we would have to go to the hospital because he wasn't eating and was breathing really fast, but he looks so much better now. The doctor actually hates sending kids to the hospital because more often than not, they contract other sicknesses from the other kids there. It is definitely a relief. The doctor said it is because he is such a big kid that he was able to recover so fast. He officially weighs 13.1 pounds and is 26 inches long (that is the 97 percentile!!) Don't worry though, we will still be hiding out for the next couple of weeks so none of your little ones get it.

RSV

The test results are in. . . Porter has RSV. Life is so ironic sometimes. When Porter was first born, I took him everywhere, Jazz games, the Mall, etc. Let's just say I wasn't the most cautious new mom. After the first month, Tom and I decided that maybe we needed to be a little more cautious with him so I stopped taking him places. For the past two weeks Porter has hardly left the house. Well it doesn't appear that being cautious did any good. We took Porter to the Pediatrician today and it turns out that he has RSV. Porter must love the doctor because he is so happy every time we take him there even when he is sick. RSV isn't surprising according to him because almost all babies with colds end up having RSV. It can last up to two weeks and since it is a virus, there is basically nothing you can do for it. We need to be on 24 hour watch and monitor his breathing. We also have a standing invitation to the Respiratory Clinic in the new IHC hospital. We can take him in whenever we want to get his nose suctioned. He has a hard time eating because he is worried he will aspirate fluid if he drinks, so he chooses to breath rather than eat. We are supposed to try to feed him an ounce every hour. If we can't get him to eat or he isn't getting enough oxygen, he will have to be admitted to the hospital where they will hook him up to an IV and give him oxygen. Luckily, his oxygen is still at 94% and his lungs look good. He is a big boy (14 pounds!) so he is putting up a good fight. Since we are already into this thing 4 days, we may be at the worst point right now. Let's hope so because it is awful to see your baby cough so hard that he throws up and be powerless to help him.

Poor Porter

On Friday, Porter had the symptoms of a cold, with a stuffy nose and a little bit of a cough, so I took him to the doctor to insure that everything was okay.  Not to brag, but I have such a good baby, its hard to know that he isn't feeling well because he is always happy.  At the doctor, he was flirting with the nurses. This is "Sick" Porter at the Doctor's Office. The doctor said he had a cold, but that was  not RSV.  Saturday brought improved symptoms so I thought we were in the clear.  I kept him home from church on Sunday, and when Tom got home, we checked his temperature which was 100.4.  Since Porter is only two months (a fact I often forget since he is so big), the doctor told us to take him to Kids Kare.  After examining him, they had to suction his nose to test for viruses.  They stick a large tube up his nose and suction out anything in there.  This was horrible to watch as Porter lay on the table screaming.  The doctor then sent us to get a chest x-ray.  I was wondering how they could keep a child still while doing this, but as we walked into the room, I saw this.  Have any of you ever seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, well this is the device Augustus Galoop got sucked up into when he ate the chocolate river.  It is actually called a Piggo-Stat Infant Immobilizer, which although looks funny with that child in there, imagine a 2 month old infant.   I thought suctioning his nose was bad, I had no idea because this was the worst thing to watch.  Once they place him in the "tube", they put a black screen in front of his face.  We had to watch through the glass as my poor little boy sat there, his little hands gripping the top, screaming.  Luckily, they found nothing on the X-ray and believe he just has a cold.  Hopefully we are finally in the clear.

Catching Up

I know, I know, it has been a month since my last post.  My life has seemed crazy busy, but in all actuality, not much has happened.  Porter is growing like a weed (which probably accounts for why he sleeps up to 18 hours a day, but I'm not complaining).  His two month appointment is next week, then I will know how big he actually is.  All I know is that he is long out of his 0-3 month clothes, and just about out of his 3-6 month clothes.  Who makes those sizes anyways?  He loves to smile and loves to talk and laughs a lot in his sleep, which is hilarious.  On another note, Tommy managed to break his collar bone while skiing. (no I was not with him, I was home taking care of Porter)  He is almost fully functional again, but right at first I was taking care of two children.  If you ask me, I think it was his way to get out of changing dirty diapers and making me chauffeur him around.  On another note, Tom and I were released as ward missionaries and both have new callings.  I am the Young Women's Personal Progress advisor and Tom is the Young Men's secretary specifically focusing on the flags.  (yes you read right, flags).  So in addition to this new calling, Tom is keeping busy with work and school.  His wednesday night class was changed to Friday nights from 5:30-8:30!  So if any of you are bored on Friday nights, call me cause I'll just be sitting around.  And Happy Birthday yesterday Tommy!                                                  Porter Sucking His Thumb.

What Porter Looks Like 18 Hours a Day

I